BC Hydro and the joint review panel ignored new data on geothermal energy potential in B.C.
Geothermal power has been developed with some success in other countries. The benefit of thermal power is that, once developed, it provides consistent power generation around the clock, with minimal environmental impacts.
Developers in B.C. have not had a lot of success with geothermal power, however. Although B.C. has an abundance of geothermal potential, past attempts to develop geothermal power here have found it to be simply too expensive.
Last year, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) issued a report that said BC Hydro and the joint review panel relied on out of date information when they ruled out geothermal power as too expensive. New “unconventional” geothermal sources have been identified in Northeastern B.C. by the oil and gas sector, the report found.
Since the cost of finding geothermal heat sources is one of the things that makes it so costly, CanGEA said the oil and gas sector had already done some of the heavy lifting.
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